Show v if 11 chae MAY DAY myse 0 ERY V roq colic 1 AY A Y A N U 15 a M SYNOPSIS antoinette peyton senior at the university ot of tl arland resents vat tat croon thrillers attentions atten tlona to ivy welch seventeen year yea ro old coed and there li a stormy scene acene the tension tendon being increased by max vernon another student reproaching ivy for or breaking a date with him thayer and vernon threaten each other larry welch ivy avys a brother professor at the university ts to appealed to by tony to end his slaters bister s friendship with thayer welch and tony payton are in love welch does not see what he can do tony then tells him she Is in married to thayer but Is his wife only in name larry determines ter mines to see thayer and end his association as n with ivy tony per eu sundew adea h him m to w watt t until she bhe ha has aul appealed to her husband h osband she does doe so eo visiting to him in his room norn at a fraternity house CHAPTER III continued 5 theres tio something funny an and d I 1 think the the more we noth ing tle the less les a we well get up in a scandal there wait a sound of feet on the stairway inside lie fraternity gnuse the buys boys looked toward the door lu in time to see aee mm max vernon come out ills ilia manner still puzzled them thein the moonlike face was sternly set giving it a somewhat grotesque ap pe bearance arance of futile anger tin hn was waa moving with short quick strides across the veran veranda ile he was wearing a different suit from the one which had adorned lila ills figure a half hour since and he seemed even more engrossed with thoughts of no highly pleasant plon snot tin na ture lure lie ile descended to the walk without so much as a glance at farnum and gleason they noticed that under its arin he carried a sizable bundle they saw him reach raach ills car find nd pitch the bundle into the tonn tomi enu cau then with more speed than grace vernon jumped behind the wheel kicked the starten started start ef clashed his gears savagely and jaked aft hed into tile tho road Some things puzzling me remarked slowly Wt int which Is the most remarkable phenomenon tony Vey peytons tons visit to lint Th thaders ayers room or ma max vernon s wild n lid eyed fury I 1 ask you which gleason gave gae a I 1 lomat and explicit lin answer both 11 1 he said tersely CHAPTER IV arvy WELCH erner ged from the I 1 I 1 1 comans womans ans dormitory and confronted tier lier br her larry gazing fit at tier her with w ath big brotherly affection bound it dilli cult to reconcile him wf to the lie iden idea that tiny affair of the heart in which ivy was con arved was to he be taken seriously but tier her first words sounded the alardi 1 I 1 know why you youve I 1 ve come arry its tf to tell mo me ive got to lint lint Thi thaler lyer the answer Is lint I 1 wont in do it the toler tolerant tol ernnt lant smile died on ills his lips und find lie he frowned slightly why mn ivy because ll ele I 1 love him film and I 1 guess ini in old enough to know my own mind not about n man inan like thayer ats sl she blie stamped tier her tiny toot foot tony ceilon tins has been talking to you elie ehe sites been filling you lull full of poison ashes she 8 Jen jealous lous thata nil all noo he answered sober soberly ly sties shea not jealous him to do you know 1 I 1 know it humph I 1 ivy spoke with tile the superiority of womanly intuition 1 I guess sties got tile the wool pulled over your eyes eves too I 1 gaie I 1 could see lint she was war lealo len lois ip when slip slie t caught us its lii in ohp bower I 1 menn mean I 1 could tell hv by every single word tile ilie ald she isn t jen jealous lous ivy I 1 feel con ildene of that lint yes xea bemi tise youre yui re crazy about her hint a why ali you take my mv at ad vice bud anti and lay oft T tier her lies s you oft off against put I 1 guess I 1 understand this better than you d ino iko youve ou ve got to quit chayer I 1 ler her lips alp pressed tightly together since when did you start telling me what I 1 must to do its ita for your own good oil off yes because n jealous botn an wants the man chos crazy about me why anti and because slips got you fooled ti honest onest I 1 never would have tho tight tony peyton could he be so small and menn mean slie he that talut ats believe me I 1 know im in talking about she told we me a good deal about this afternoon about other things what lie ile hesitated im not at liberty to say no certainly you arent im it ashamed Sha tined of you dud bud youre not playing fair I 1 guess if its so important flint I 1 keep away from cirit chayer n its important enough for you to tell roe me what you know 1 I 1 promised tony naturally tilly shed make you promise because most likely whatever she said so chrit very nice als and Is it nice for you to come knocking pat thayer when you know im crazy about him Is it lie ile tried to bo be fair 1 I guess it sounds pretty bad 4 he confessed lint but you know im honest rind and what im telling you guesswork it based on rumor thayer any man for you and I 1 dont want you going with him any more yon yet must lay off him 1 I dont havo have to do what you say I 1 guess if you verent at this college id lie do what I 1 want and im not going to fool you bud ill be with pat as much as he wants me to anil and I 1 guess be a good little bit even if 1 I 1 ask you not to even then now listen she stepped close and put her hand on his sleeve 1 I know you mean well bud bild but youre nil all wet on this pat Is a swell fellow and hes crazy about me not therit bird I 1 unconsciously site she became quite melodramatic im not going to let even you yon talk about pat flat that way noo no o I 1 guess if I 1 know hes rotten oh that fair larry it youre being nasty about I pat at and you dont know anything well I 1 guess lies told me all tile the brid bad things about himself that flint anyone else knows and I 1 love loe him im going to keep on going with him and I 1 wont have hate you yon interfering 4 I 1 I 1 shall positively stick with pat now are you yet going to leave us alone no he said honestly im not 1 I warn you bud better ills ilia eyes narrowed whit what do you mean id better 1 I 1 mean this site she said slowly if you try to keep pat thayer and roe me apart ill marry him P 1 what ill marry him but bilt but you cant Be because enuse you say so tie llo cursed himself lie he wished he told tony that hed keep her secret you you just cant all he said lamely well see she was aflame with indignation im going to ask him film myself if hell marry met and dont think I 1 dont mean that bud because I 1 do I 1 tie he stared at her for a minute she wills was his sister and he knew that she ahe was serious ho sensed the fut futility lifty of further argument and turned away abruptly she jumped in front of him her eyes blazing where are you going larry ills face was more grim and forbidding than she had find ever seen it 1 I 1 crint cant hammer any sense into your head ivy so im gol going ing to see pat flat thayer oli oil you dare I 1 be starting something 1 i she was trembling violently and her face was pale with finger anger 1 I 1 warn yon lerry youl be starting sonie something lie he moved away youre darn right I 1 will he said sharply site she stood like a little statue ns as he strode oft off down the path which led through the hie glen and so up tile the hill opposite lie ile tried to think clearly tried to rid himself of tile the prejudice which must necessarily arise be muse cause tony peyton wills was the other in the ense case one thing was wait clear to him in that moment of worry lie he must see thayer imme 1 dla dia tely there must be a show down ile he handle ivy hill but hla his teeth clenched clen clied ns as he reflected upon tile the fact that he could mighty well hinole pat thayer actually larry experienced an exultation at the prospect that thayer ri inver might not hp be easy to handle ivy lind had roused him more than h tie k knew it ew ile he wills was boiling Intern internally rilly and he wanted a vent for hla his over wro wrought feelings paraffin and phil glenson pre re still lounging on the veranda tf of the tau rau theta house it will wap rube who saw lorry arst and now another ho he drawled ile here comet come larry welch looking like someone had bud socket socked him he I 1 low ioni tile the belt bell if precedent menns mean anything hes coming straight here but even farnum did not take bif ahli own words seriously and so his saw jam dropped as larry passed his own fraternity house and turned in at phi tau theta put pat thayer in he asked yell yeh upstairs then when lie he had entered the house they looked at one another bewilderedly the affif affair fir was too puzzling for mere conversation occasionally c casio 11 nally one would shake his hend but speech was not necessary each knew that the other was thinking in circles ill say guy this much commented Glea gleason sori after a five minute silence bat pat TI thaler t ayer has sure gotten popular with a mixed crowd yeh yeb agreed or of u unpopular r 1 por for live five minutes more nothing happened then at ten minutes past two larry welch appeared peare d in the doorway lie ile crossed the veranda with quick steps and descended to the walk in a single e jump the two boys stared after him then directed their gazes gares toward each other happy lad commented gleason Gl edson lie ile looked almost seared scared aint it tile the truth you reckon 1 I 1 dont reckon anything all I 1 know Is id hate to have larry welch get as sore at uie me as he seems to be at somebody right now I 1 never knew that bird could get real angry 11 at fifteen minutes after two almost before the mellow chimes of the quarter hour had died out from the tower of old main something happened something terrible something which jarred the two students to their feet and caused cold sweat to break out on their foreheads irom brom upstairs in the fraternity house there crime came a wild shriek an howl there was an in fin stants slants pause and then the howl was wal 4 repeated and there was a sound of feet running heavily down the stair way and on the summer air certain words came to the startled ears of the two boys oil oh I 1 0 d oh my G dl d I 1 A human fi figure gure catapulted onto the veranda a disheveled wild eyed figure which was making passionate gestures and struggling futilely to say something they recognized him instantly mike carmicino janitor of tile the fraternity house lie ile grabbed arm ile he tried to talk but no words came only the gibberish of terror farnum grabbed Carm leino by the shoulder and glared at him the matter he asked hoarsely wh all the yet yell ing about carmicino gestured wildly toward the interior of the house bouse Al Liester Thay thayer erl 1 he croaked thayer Thay erl 1 what about him covered his eyes with his hands i ue Is dead I 1 he groaned some 11 01 somebody have murdered Thay erl body have murdered thayer I 1 over the bowed head of the babbling crouching shaken sobbing janitor the two fraternity brothers faced each other their eyes were di distended s tended with horror as they st struggled to t ci co comprehend m the mes sage which mke mike carmicino brought t to 0 them they led the janitor to a chair where lie he bent forward his squat muscular mija eular body racked with dry sobs the boys bois were badly shaken sli aken but nt at least they tried to think clearly and voice when he questioned tile the janitor was almost steady you say mr air thayer I 1 IP dead carmicino shuddered sl st signore ile he Is quite completely murdered ue tie Is on the floor of hees room there Is much blood blond lie does not bren breathe the hees hen heart rt it does not heat beat I 1 am quite sure lie he Is dead good lord l ord how did you yon nod find him 1 I see the door of Af eester thay rhay ers room Is not entirely shut shift I 1 look in and I 1 see one foot and one leg on the floor I 1 theena that thai I 1 very ery funny that thayer should lie anthe on the floor and not move perhaps pel imps lie he Is drunk so I 1 think I 1 will put him on the bed find and shut I 1 he file door so nobody will know he Is drunk I 1 go in the room and then I 1 see the blood and and and 11 and what 1 I 1 stand there for a minute two minutes I 1 do not understand that flint Af eester what Is so kind t ti tile me have come to a sad ending rhen 1 see he la Is dead and some i thins thing grab roe me right here w lie he touched his throat threat with a dr dramatic aquatic gesture 1 I 1 cannot breathe I 1 can not move I 1 am seared beaded you you mean somebody really grabbed you not nor mikes alikes eyes rolled with terror at the very thought 1 I mean I 1 feel as had bad like somebody does that I 1 am seared scared I 1 am frightened and I 1 run downstairs gleason looked up wed better phone the police rube nube if we dont call the cops well get ourselves mixed up in this and I 1 guess wed better phone the dean too gleason walked unsteadily into the fraternity house and called the marland police station then he ble telephoned to the dean and returned to the porch it was aris a ghastly thing made even more grisly by the perfect day the sensuous flower scented breezes of first summer the carefree strolling groups of students laughter and jollity and careless youth and upstairs the body of a young man lying dead murdered d it believable the two young men were appalled by their own knowledge of surrounding circumstances cum curn stances there was so much they knew which might prove damning A small car jerked to a halt in front of the fraternity house and two men alighted one of them i was V tall and broad and wore tile the uniform of the marland pol police ce force ore the other wearing civilian clothes was short and squat students strolling on the row flow or or lounging on the vera verandas n it as of fraternity houses star stared ed with sudden in terest nt at tau theta there was a general movement in the direction of the house A young man from lambda beta PI addressed the uniformed policeman who stood on the lawn of tau theta wrong officer the cop answered tersely murder I 1 good G d you dont mean 1 I dont mean young felter feller fe been murdered in yonder and nob odys to go in or git out all the startled young man told his companion the news sped from lip to lip who was it no not rube Farn farnum urn he had been seen on the porch then somebody mentioned pat thayer many persons mentioned pat thayer no one knew where the rumor started but thay ers name was on every lip the policeman on the lawn allowed nobody body to rp reproach within hearing distance of the group on the veranda the militant positive figure of john reagan chief of the marland plainclothes force mike carmicino the janitor petrified with fear and trembling violently rube fadum tall frind and limp and frightened phil gleason reduced from his customary alertness to the shriveled miniature of his usual positive self reagan was questioning farnum rube was struggling to be fair and honest to remember things and yet to avoid injustice to anyone ile he was absolutely and abysm abysmally nily miserable then there emerged from the main building a tall and dignified man before whom a path opened in the throng of students whitman boyd dean of marland turned in before the tragic fraternity house and was promptly stopped by the policeman on duty no further for you snapped the officer dean deran boyd spoke quietly are you in charge officer no be john reagan yonder and he gestured toward the veranda will you ask him if I 1 may speak to him im dean of the college and id like to find out what hns has happened the policeman called out to reagan this gui la is the big boss chief can he come up kessans Ken Re sans agnns keen eyes surveyed the dean lie ile jerked his head affirmatively let him the dean mounted the veranda steps his arrival sending a glow of thanksgiving through the breasts of rube farnum rind |